The use of indicator species can simplify bird monitoring by reducing the level of specialized skills needed, which increases the potential pool of participants and reduces training costs and complexity. To facilitate monitoring in the humid forests of northeast Central America, we conducted point count surveys for birds across gradients of disturbance in the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, Belize, and analyzed the association of bird species with remotely sensed metrics of forest condition and anthropogenic disturbance using indicator species analysis. Twenty species exhibited significant associations with one or more of these metrics. We propose six species as indicators for anthropogenic disturbance based on our criteria of being associated with anthropogenically disturbed sites, or anthropogenically disturbed and riparian sites with no explicit mention in the literature of an obligate association with riparian habitats, or association of remotely sensed metrics that appeared to reflect disturbance yellow-olive flycatcher, red-legged honeycreeper, dusky antbird, blue ground dove, buff-throated saltator, and brown jay. We propose the keel-billed motmot as an indicator of undisturbed forest based on its association with forested sites in our analyses. Green shrike vireo, collard trogon, rufous-tailed jacamar, and rufous piha were associated with a specific elevational range but not associated with disturbance, so upward shifts in elevation that might indicate response to climate change would not be confounded with habitat disturbance or degradation. This exercise yielded a much-reduced list of monitoring targets, which will greatly reduce the cost and complexity of forest bird monitoring in the region, as well as reducing barriers to participation.Heat stress is a major environmental factor that could induce premature leaf senescence in plants. So far, a few rice premature senescent leaf mutants have been reported to involve in heat tolerance.
We identified a premature senescence leaf 50 (psl50) mutant that exhibited a higher heat susceptibility with decreased survival rate, over-accumulated hydrogen peroxide (HO) content and increased cell death under heat stress compared with the wild-type. The causal gene PREMATURE SENESCENCE LEAF 50 (PSL50) was isolated by using initial map-based resequencing (IMBR) approach, and we found that PSL50 promoted heat tolerance probably by acting as a modulator of HOsignaling in response to heat stress in rice (Oryza sativa L.).
PSL50 negatively regulates heat-induced premature leaf senescence in rice.
PSL50 negatively regulates heat-induced premature leaf senescence in rice.The mammalian gut microbiome participates in almost all life processes in the host. In addition to diet, the breed is the main factor affecting changes in the swine gut microbiota. The composition of the gut microbiota changes significantly during different growth stages. Research on developmental changes in the gut microbiota of indigenous Chinese pig breeds is limited. In this study, the fecal microbiota of Wuzhishan pigs (a Chinese indigenous miniature pig) at different growth stages was investigated using high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the two dominant phyla, accounting for more than 80% of all sequences. With increasing age, the fecal microbial diversity increased, and the proportion of Firmicutes increased, whereas the proportion of Bacteroidetes decreased. A total of 49 biomarkers with statistical differences were detected in the four growth stages. The different microbiota among groups enhanced the ability to degrade fiber, carbohydrates, and other substances during the growth stages. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/mk-8245.html The endocrine system was different in multiple growth stage paired comparisons, which was attributed to the different body statuses in the growth stages. This study revealed developmental changes in the structure and function of gut microbes in local pigs.Among stresses, heat stress (HS) is a prime factor restricting plant growth and productivity. However, the molecular mechanisms of plants' response to HS need to be further uncovered. Here, the transcriptome response of maize seedlings to HS was dissected using transcriptome data analysis. The data exhibited that a total of 43,221 genes in maize seedlings had been found, 37,534 of which were referred, while 5686 were not. Under HS, comparison with the control without HS, there were 13,607 genes that were differentially expressed (DEGs, 6195 upregulated and 7412 downregulated). In addition, Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis indicated that there were 220, 478, and 1300 terms that were enriched in cellular component, molecular function, and biological process, respectively. Significantly enriched GO terms were involved in 23 cellular components, 27 molecular functions, and 124 biological processes. Also, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis suggested that there were 2613 DEGs that were assigned to 131 pathways, 14 of which (enriched 1068 DEGs in total) were significantly upregulated. These pathways were mainly related to protein renaturation, biomembrane repair, osmotic adjustment, and redox balance. Among them, protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum was the most significantly upregulated. The transcriptome data decoded that protein renaturation, biomembrane repair, osmotic adjustment, and redox balance played a key role in the response of maize seedlings to HS.Fusarium wilt is a devastating disease which impacts watermelon production. Soil fumigation using dazomet followed by biological organic fertilizer was applied to suppress the Fusarium wilt disease. We propose that fumigation suppresses the soil indigenous community, especially the soil-borne pathogens, while the utilization of bio-organic fertilizer facilitates the recovery of the soil microbiome to a beneficial, suppressive state through the introduction of plant growth-promoting microorganisms. Greenhouse experiment showed that applied biological organic fertilizer after dazomet fumigation effective restrain the disease incidence with a 93.6% disease control. Fumigation strongly decreased soil microbial diversity and altered relative taxa abundances, suggesting the possibility of niche release by the resident soil microbial community. Fumigation followed by bio-fertilizer transformed the soil microbial community composition and resulted in higher relative abundances of beneficial microbial groups such as Bacillus (8.